"Hold his friends as hostage for the Hammer"s return," the Daewar suggested.

"Do that and the Hammer can stay lost for another three hundred years!" Flint said angrily.

Realgar"s squinting eyes had been observing Flint narrowly. He smiled, then said, "I propose a wager."

The other Thanes looked intrigued. Like their G.o.d, dwarves loved to gamble.

"What wager?" asked Hornfel.

"If this Neidar finds the Hammer of Kharas and returns it to us, then we will consider permitting these humans safe entry into our realm-provided they are not an army, of course. If he fails, then he and his friends remain our prisoners, and we seal up the gate."

Hornfel stroked his beard and eyed Flint speculatively. The Daewar nodded in satisfaction and the Klar gave a low chuckle and scratched his chin with the knife blade.

"You can"t mean they are actually considering doing this!" Sturm said, when Tanis translated. "I cannot believe they would gamble on something this serious! Of course, Flint will have no part of it."

"I agree with the knight," Raistlin said. "Something"s not right about this."

"Maybe so," Flint muttered, "but sometimes you have to risk all to gain all. I"ll take that bet," he called out loudly, "on one condition. You can do what you like with me, but if I lose, my friends go free."

"He can"t do this, Tanis!" Sturm protested, shocked and outraged. "Flint cannot gamble with the sacred Hammer of Kharas!"

"Calm down, Sturm," Tanis said testily. "The Hammer is not anybody"s to do anything with yet."

"I won"t stand for this!" Sturm stated. "If you will do nothing, then I must. This is sacrilege!"

"Let Flint handle this his way, Sturm," Tanis warned. He gripped the knight"s arm as he would have turned away, forced him to listen. "We"re not in Solamnia. We"re in the realm of the dwarves. We know nothing about their rules, their laws and their customs. Flint does. He took an enormous risk, putting on that helm. We owe him our trust."

Sturm hesitated. For a moment, he seemed prepared to defy Tanis. Then he thought better of it and gave a grudging nod.

"We will make the wager," Hornfel said, speaking for the rest of the Thanes, "with these conditions: We make no terms regarding your friends, Flint Fireforge of the Neidar. Their fate is bound up in yours. If you do indeed find the Hammer of Kharas and return it to us, we will consider allowing the humans you represent to enter Thorbardin, based on our a.s.sessment of them. If they are, as you claim, families and not soldiers, they will be welcome. Is this agreeable?"

"The G.o.ds help us!" Sturm murmured.

Flint spit into his palm and extended his hand. Hornfel spit into his palm. The two shook on it, and the wager was done.

Hornfel turned to Tanis.

"You will be our guests in your friend"s absence. You will stay in guest quarters in the Life Tree. We will provide guards for your safety."

"Thank you," said Tanis, "but we"re going with our friend. He can"t undertake what may be a dangerous quest alone."

"Your friend will not go alone," Hornfel replied with a slight smile. "My son, Arman, will accompany him."

"This is madness, Flint!" Raistlin said in his soft voice. "Let us say you find the Hammer. What is to prevent this dwarf from turning on you and murdering you and stealing it?"

"I"m there to prevent it," stated Flint, glowering. there to prevent it," stated Flint, glowering.

"You are not so young as you once were," Raistlin countered, "nor as strong, whereas Arman is both."

"My son would never do such a thing," said Hornfel angrily.

"Indeed, I would not," said Arman, insulted. "You have my word as my father"s son and as a Hylar that I will consider the life of your friend as a sacred charge."

"For that matter, Flint could murder Kharas and steal the Hammer," Ta.s.slehoff piped up cheerfully. "Couldn"t you, Flint?"

Flint went red in the face. Caramon, heaving a sigh, put his hand the kender"s shoulder and marched him toward the door.

"Flint, don"t agree to this!" Sturm urged.

"There is no agreement to be made," said Hornfel in tones of finality. "No human or half-human, and certainly no kender, will defile the sacred tomb of our High King. The Council of the Thanes is ended. My son will escort you to your quarters." Hornfel turned on his heel and left.

The soldiers closed in around the companions. They had no choice but to go along.

Flint walked at Tanis"s side. The old dwarf"s head was bowed, his shoulders slumped. He held tightly to the Helm of Grallen.

"Do you really know where to find the Hammer?" Tanis asked in a low undertone.

"Maybe," Flint muttered.

Tanis scratched his beard. "You realize you agreed to gamble the lives of eight hundred people on that "maybe?""

Flint c.o.c.ked an eye at his friend. "You got a better idea?"

Tanis shook his head.

"I didn"t think so," Flint grunted.

Chapter 12.

The Inn of The Talls. Sturm argues.

FIint Whittles.

The quarters provided the companions by the dwarves were located on the ground floor of the Life Tree in a part of the city that was older than the rest and little used. All the buildings were abandoned and boarded up. Flint pointed out why.

"Everything is human height-the doors and the windows. This part of the Life Tree was built to house humans."

"It used to be known as Tall Town," Arman informed them. "This was the area set aside for the human and elven merchants who once lived and worked here. We are giving you quarters in one of the inns built specially for your race."

Caramon in particular was relieved. He had already squeezed his big body into dwarf-size wagons and buckets, and he"d been worried about having to spend the night in a bed built for short dwarven legs.

The inn was in better repair than most of the buildings, for some enterprising dwarf was currently using it as a warehouse. It was two stories tall with lead-paned gla.s.s windows and a solid oak door.

"Before the Cataclysm, this inn was filled every night," said Arman, ushering his "guests" inside. "Merchants came from all over Ansalon, from Istar, Solamnia, and Ergoth. Once this common room rang with the sounds of laughter and the clink of gold. Now you hear nothing."

"Except the screeching of rats." Raistlin drew his robes close to him in disgust as several rodents, startled by the sudden light shed by a larva lantern, went racing across the floor.

"At least the beds are our size," Caramon said thankfully, "and so are the tables and chairs. Now if we just had something to eat and drink..."

"My men will bring you meat, ale, and clean bedding," Arman said, then turned to Flint. "I suggest we both get a good night"s sleep. We set out for the Valley of the Thanes first thing on the morrow." Arman hesitated, then said, "I a.s.sume that is where we will be going?"

Flint"s only response was a grunt. He walked over to a chair, plunked himself down, and took out a stick of wood and his whittling knife. Arman Kharas remained standing in the doorway, his gaze fixed on Flint, apparently hoping the dwarf would reveal more.

Flint obviously had nothing to say. Tanis and the rest stood looking around the dark and gloomy inn, not knowing what to do with themselves.

Arman frowned. He clearly wanted to order Flint to talk, but he was hardly in a position to do so. At last he said, "I will post guards outside so that your rest is not disturbed."

Raistlin gave a sardonic laugh. Tanis flashed him a warning glance, and he turned away. Sturm stalked off and went to work dragging down some wood bed frame that had been stacked together in a corner along with barrels, boxes, and crates. Caramon offered to help, as did Ta.s.slehoff, though the first thing the kender did was to start poking holes in a crate to see if he could tell what was inside. Arman stood watching them. Flint continued to whittle.

At length, Arman tugged on his beard and asked if they had questions.

"Yeah," said Caramon, holding one of the heavy bed frames above his head, preparatory to placing it on the floor. "When"s dinner?"

The food they were given was plain and simple, washed down with ale from one of the casks. Arman Kharas finally wrenched himself away. Tanis felt sorry for the young dwarf, and he was annoyed at Flint, who could have at least been nice to Arman, whose life-long dreams had just been shattered. Flint was in a dark mood, however, and Tanis kept quiet, figuring anything he said would only make matters worse. Flint ate in silence, shoveling his food in his mouth rapidly, and when he was finished, he walked away from the table and went back to his whittling.

Sturm sat bolt upright all through dinner, disapproval evident in his bristling mustaches and the ice blue glint in his eyes. Raistlin picked at his food, eating little, his gaze abstracted, his thoughts turned inward. Caramon drank more ale than was good for him and fell asleep with his head on the table. The only person talking was Ta.s.slehoff, who prattled away happily about the exciting events of the day, never seeming to mind that no one was listening to him.

Raistlin suddenly shoved his plate aside and rose to his feet. "I am going to study my spells. I do not want to be disturbed." He appropriated the only comfortable chair and dragged it near the large stone fireplace, where Tanis had managed to coax a small fire into burning.

Raistlin cast a disgusted glance at his twin, who lay sprawled on the table, exhaling beery breath.

"I trust someone will put that great lump to bed," Raistlin said. He took out his spellbook and was soon absorbed in his reading.

Sturm and Tanis hauled the sodden Caramon to the stoutest bed and dumped him down onto the mattress. Sturm then walked over and stood beside Flint, staring down at him.

"Flint, you can"t do this," said Sturm.

Flint"s knife sc.r.a.ped against the wood, and a particularly large chip flew off, nearly hitting Ta.s.slehoff, who was engaged in attempting to pick a lock on a large chest.

"You can"t go off on a quest of this importance with that Arman Kharas. In the first place, I"m none too certain of his sanity. In the second, it is too dangerous. You should refuse to go unless one of us goes with you."

Small curls of wood flowed out from under Flint"s knife, landing at his feet.

Sturm"s face reddened. "The Thanes cannot refuse you, Flint. Simply tell them that you will not fetch the hammer without proper protection! I myself would be glad to serve as your escort."

Flint looked up. "Bah!" he said, and looked back down. Another chip flew. "You"d escort the hammer right out of Thorbardin and back to Solamnia!"

Sturm smashed his fist on the table, setting the pewter plates dancing, and startling Tas, who dropped his lock pick. "Hey!" the kender said sternly. "Be quiet. Raistlin and I are trying to concentrate."

"The hammer is vital to our cause!" Sturm said angrily.

"Keep your voice down, Sturm," Tanis cautioned. "The walls are thick, but that door is not, and the guards are right outside."

"They speak nothing but Dwarvish," Sturm said, but he did lower his voice. He walked a couple of times around the room, trying to calm himself, then went back to confront Flint.

"I apologize for shouting, but I do not think you understand the importance of your undertaking. The dragonlance is the only weapon known to us that can slay these evil dragons, and the Hammer of Kharas is the only hammer that can be used in the making of the dragonlances. If you bring the hammer to the knights you will be a hero, Flint. You will be honored in legend and song for all time. Most important, you will save thousands of lives!"

Flint did not look at him, though he appeared to be interested in what the knight had to say. His whittling slowed. Only very small shavings fell now. Tanis didn"t like the way the conversation was tending.

"Have you forgotten the reason we came here, Sturm?" Tanis asked. "We came seeking a safe haven for eight hundred men, women, and children. Flint has promised to give the dwarves the hammer if he finds it. In return, Hornfel has promised that the refugees can enter Thorbardin. He won"t do that if we try to walk off with the dwarves" sacred hammer. In fact, we probably wouldn"t get out of here alive. Face facts, Sturm. The dragonlance is a dream, a legend, a myth. We are not certain such a weapon even existed."

"Some of us are," Sturm said.

"The refugees are real and their peril is real," Tanis countered. "1 agree with Sturm that you should not go alone tomorrow, Flint, but I should be the one to go with you." agree with Sturm that you should not go alone tomorrow, Flint, but I should be the one to go with you."

"You do not trust me, Half-Elven, is that it?" Sturm"s face blanched, his eyes dilated.

"I trust you, Sturm," said Tanis, sighing. "I know that you would give your life for me, or Flint, or any of us. I do not doubt your courage, your honor, or your friendship. It"s just... I worry that you are being impractical! You have traded common sense for some wishful dream of saving mankind."

Sturm shook his head. "I honor and respect you, Tanis, as I would have honored and respected the father I never knew. In this matter, however, I cannot give way. What if we save eight hundred lives now, only to lose thousands as the evil queen moves to conquer and enslave all of Ansalon? The dragonlance may be a dream now, but we have it in our power to make that dream reality! The G.o.ds brought me here to seek the Hammer of Kharas, Tanis. I believe that with all my heart."

"The G.o.ds told me me where to find it, Sturm Brightblade." Flint thrust his knife in his belt, stood up, and tossed the chunk of wood he"d been whittling into the fire. "I"m going to bed." where to find it, Sturm Brightblade." Flint thrust his knife in his belt, stood up, and tossed the chunk of wood he"d been whittling into the fire. "I"m going to bed."

"Sturm is right about one thing, Flint," said Tanis. "You should tell the Thanes that you want one of us to accompany you. I don"t care who it is. Take Sturm, take Caramon. Just take someone! Will you do that?"

"No." Flint stalked off toward a dwarf-size bed he"d found for himself in a distant corner of the room.

"Be logical, my friend," Tanis was growing exasperated at the dwarf"s stubbornness. "You can"t go off alone with Arman Kharas! You can"t trust him."

"Actually, Flint, if you want a companion who will be truly useful, you would choose me," said Raistlin from his place by the fire.

"As if anyone trusts you!" Sturm gave the mage a baleful glance. "I should be the one to go."

Flint halted half-way across the room and turned to face them. His face was livid with rage.

"I"d sooner take the kender than any one of you lot. So there!" He stomped off to bed.

Ta.s.slehoff jumped to his feet. "Me? You"re taking me, Flint?" he cried in excitement.

"I"m not taking anyone," Flint growled.

He marched over to his bed, climbed in it, pulled the blanket up over his head, and rolled over, his back to them all.

"But Flint," Tas wailed, "you just said you were-"

"Tas, leave him alone," said Tanis.

"He said he was taking me!" Tas argued.

"Flint"s tired. We"re all tired. I think we should go to bed. Perhaps matters will look different in the morning."